Limiting Obama's power

January 19, 2013

No one aware of President Barack Obama's rhetoric and his background should doubt that if he thought he could get away with it, he would use executive orders to limit or ban private ownership of certain types of firearms.

But Americans sensitive to the chipping away of constitutional guarantees for many years are making it clear the Second Amendment is something they do not believe should be weakened by any Obama or any other individual.

Still, Obama and Congress are under tremendous pressure to do something to lessen the potential for more mass murders such as that in Newtown, Conn., last month. So the White House is considering a host of executive orders aimed at curbing gun violence.

Many of them make sense. For example, ordering that federal agencies take more strict action against people who lie on gun sale background checks is a good idea. So is conducting more research into gun violence.

Initiatives such as those fall within the constitutional authority of the executive branch. They may do some good by keeping guns out of the hands of people who could pose threats to society.

But we have no doubt Obama would prefer to further limit gun ownership. This is a situation in which he should be reminded that his authority is limited by the Constitution, and that's a good thing, indeed.